Surabaya, East Java

Surabaya, the second biggest metropolitan city in Indonesia is now expanding bigger and worth by numbers of facilities for industry and tourism sites. As the second biggest city after Jakarta, Surabaya is also the capital of East Java province with the population around 3 million people with diversities among the culture, the people and way of living.

As the center of business, commerce, industry and education in eastern Indonesia, Surabaya today is already facilitated by good infrastructure and numbers of public spaces to hanging around. Surabaya’s economy is also influenced by the recent growth in foreign industries and the completion of the Suramadu Bridge. Surabaya is currently keeping up the process of building high rise skyscrapers such as apartments, condominiums, malls and plazas, and hotels as a way of attracting foreign people to the city.

The name of Surabaya or Suroboyo is coming from the word Sura or Suro and Baya. Suro is kind of shark and Boyo is crocodile in Javanese term. Those two creatures, according to local myth, has fouth each other to show the existance to be the strongest and most powerful animal in the area according to a Jayabaya prophecy. Now the two animals are used as the city’s logo, the two facing each other while circling, as depicted in a statue that appropriately located near the entrance gate of Surabaya Zoo.

Surabaya is a multi-ethnic city, where there are numbers of ethnics and tribes living under one roof; Javanese, Batak, Sunda, Madurese, Balinese, Bugis and many more. There are also foreign nationalities including Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Arab and European. In everyday speaking, most inhabitants speak in Javanese with Suroboyoan dialect. Different with Javanese dialec from Central Java, like Solo or Yogyakarta, Suroboyoan dialect is higher in intonation and sometimes considered as harsh and high tempered.

However, everything in Surabaya is worth to be visited as an education, entertainment and traveling destination. Since Surabaya is rich in historical value, there are numbers of tourism sites that related to historical building and spaces, those are:

Suramadu National Bridge
Suramadu national bridge is is the bridge that crosses the Madura Strait, connecting Java island (in Surabaya) and Madura Island (in Bangkalan, exactly east Kamal). It has length of 5438 m, and make this bridge become the longest bridge in Indonesia today. This is also the first toll bridge in Indonesia, which is initially set at Rp. 30,000 for four-wheeled vehicles and Rp. 3,000 for two-wheelers. Now the possibility to access Madura Island is more easy to reach and do not need much more time to get.

House Of Sampoerna
Situated in “old Surabaya”, this stately Dutch colonial style compound was built in 1858 and is now a preserved historical site. This building was previously used as an orphanage managed by the Dutch, it was purchased in 1932 by Liem Seeng Tee, the founder of Sampoerna, with the intent of it being used as Sampoerna’s first major cigarette production facility. Today, the compound is still functioning as a production plant for Indonesia’s most prestigious cigarette, Dji Sam Soe.

Surabaya Sub Marine Museum
Submarine Monument or Monkasel, is a submarine museum located in the city of Surabaya. Located in the center of town, this monument is actually a submarine Pasopati KRI 410, one of the Indonesian Navy fleet made by Soviet Union in 1952. The submarine was ever involved in the Battle of Aru Ocean to free West Papua from the Dutch occupation. This Submarine has 76.6 meters length and a width of 6.30 meters and equipped with a steam torpedo gas totaling 12 pieces.

Surabaya Heroes Monument
Tugu Pahlawan or Heroes Monument is a monument that becomes a landmark of Surabaya. This monument is 45 yards (40.5 meters) with phallus-shaped or inverted spikes. The body-shaped of the monument is in the form of arches (Canalures), which there are 10 arches, and divided into 11 sections. The high, segments, and canalures implies on the date 10, month 11, year 1945. That date was the historic date, not only for residents of Surabaya, but also for the whole people In Indonesia. Heroes Monument was built to commemorate the events of the Battle of 10 November 1945 in Surabaya, where arek-arek Suroboyo or Surabaya youngster fought against the Allied forces with the Dutch who wanted to colonize Indonesia again.
Surabaya Zoo Kebun Binatang Surabaya (KBS) or Surabaya Zoo is located in Setail Street no. I Surabaya. This zoo is famous in Surabaya to be one of recreational destination and proudly to be the largest zoo in Southeast Asia. The location of the zoo is quite renowned because it located in front of the “SUROBOYO” icon statue, which is the icon of Shark and Crocodile that symbolize Surabaya in particular. Moreover, the location is easy to reach and near to one of terminal in Surabaya.

Ciputra Waterpark
Ciputra waterpark is a biggest waterpark in Indonesia and even in Southeast Asia. Located in West Surabaya, this amusement park was built by the Ciputra Group Company in Citraland areal. Ciputra waterpark is a family recreation that accommodates water attractions and games. There is Sirens River, Chimera Pool, Marina Lagoon, Sinbad Playground, Roc Tower and Syracuse Beach. The opening hour is daily. On Tuesday to Friday is start from 14.00 – 19.00. While on week end and holiday it is start from 08.00 – 20.00. There are also available packages like outing plus package, gathering package and birthday package.

Suroboyo Carnival
Suroboyo Carnival Night Market is a brand new amusement park in Surabaya. The strategic location makes this park become the nearest destination to have fun. Suroboyo Carnival is opened for public since July 28, 2014 and it has numbers of rides that ready to be enjoyed with groups, either family, best friends or colleague. It settled in Ahmad Yani Street no 333, Surabaya and it opens from 16.00 – 24.00.